The first couple of times I listened to DH, I didn't like it very much. Especially the title track! It did strike me as more experimental, perhaps taken a bit too far.

Now it's one of my favourite CDs. I find it elegant in it's simplicity and restraint. Leonard voice is ethereal. My favourite track is "To A Teacher", just for Leonard's voice, and to hear him say "to stop with a slap of a wet red tongue."

I'm over the moon in "undertow"
The Saxy sound, the melancholy, the reflective measure, the opening line "I set out one night" just sets me off into mystery
...and her voice... is like my own soul singing to me...
I don't know about the merits of the whole album, but this one song, undertow, is melancholy beauty and genius from beginning to end.
I think it may be his best work yet.

It always warms my heart when I get a topic notif. on an old thread such as this. When I saw the header "DH, One Year Old', sitting in my mailbox, I thought "whaaa....????" - now I see. Yes, Undertow is all that Mat said it was. Hmm. I've not been following the tour all that closely after the initial hype - I wonder? (rhetorically), if any of the tunes from DH are on the set list? Note to self: check set list which is ubiquitously posted. Thanks for the memories, guys. And, like Phillip said, there isn't anything really that Leonard did, that I have 'great' exception with - still lukewarm on TNS, but I can listen to it and it has its moments, for sure. The Future is my baby. In a manner of speaking... just the sound of Leonard's voice is enough to trip a trigger in my brain. Makes me want to wrap my arms around the device emitting the sound. Lately I've been cruising YouTube for the oldies, and San Sebastian's Avalanche is back on my 'ooh, so yummy list'.

~ The smell of perfume in the air, bits of beauty everywhere ~ Leonard Cohen.

Dear Heather is still one of my favourite LC albums along with The Future.I love the line from Undertow "And my heart the shape of a begging bowl".Morning Glory is also wonderful.I don't listen that much to Ten New Songs now,I find it very,dare I say it ,monotonous!Maybe I should take the time to listen to it more.

I think a lot of people found/find TNS 'monotonous'. It does have its moments, though, and of course, as in DOALM, some people HATED it when they first heard it, then with subsequent listening, the album can just grow on you, or more and more of those 'moments' pop out at you. I've said I'm lukewarm to it, always have been, but there are some great 'moments' Love Itself' being one for me. We're allowed to have our faves and our not so faves, and TNS, DH, and DOALM seem to be the ones that get the most crit. Yet there are those that staunchly defend them. To each their own. Every single one of Leonard's albums had 'something' good to offer. Every single one. IMHO.

~ The smell of perfume in the air, bits of beauty everywhere ~ Leonard Cohen.

I actually find DOALM to be his weakest to be honest, but as you say all of his albums certainly have something to offer. TNS is a wonderful album, and Dear Heather has a few excellent tracks, "The Letters" being my personal favourite. Songs of Love and Hate is probably my album of choice at the moment however.

I absolutely loved Dear heather from the first time I listened to it,I think it is wonderful.It makes me stop what I am doing in my tracks and transports me to a magical place,which Ten New Songs could never do.For some reason D.H. is much maligned.

It's growing on me more and more, especially since my take on it has been one of revelation--and that is namely the "revelation" that we all like to be noticed, looked upon with appreciation, and Leonard has taken his role to enable and empower us to do that quite nicely with each other, if we'll see and hear what I think the underlying message is. Well, that's my personal interp of the message, anyway. I know it's different for everyone. I just love that Leonard at any age is willing to take his time to appreciate beauty without grabbing at it (not to say that he doesn't take part of it--I don't have a right to say anything about that). However, it's a beautiful experience to be loved by someone who appreciates the whole scene, not just part of it. Maybe I'm talking in riddles here in a way; forgive me if so. I could be more specific, but prefer not to be unless pressed. That way, it leaves much room for additional interpretation!

For me, it's a beautiful thing to be loved by someone, you love.[/quote]

Agreed. But must make my confession that I love to be loved by anyone who will truly love me. I know that when I haven't been able to love or when I've been too immature to love, that something inside me still recognized the love that was coming to me, a Beautiful human experience. charla

I just thought I would give my impression of Dear Heather, which I recently heard for the first time. I say 'heard' rather than 'listened to' because I was not giving it my full attention as I was helping tidy up at a friend's house with it playing in the background, so it really is just an impression. Loved Tennessee Waltz, great fun. Title track is very different but I enjoy it when Leonard pushes back the boundaries, need to hear it a few more times. The rest, well I thought it over-produced, in one instance - though I cannot name the track - Anjani's loud multi-layered voice completely swamped Leonard's with his voice seeming to have its volume lower than hers. Generally, I found her voice unappealing and, again, over-produced. Maybe in real life it would have a less synthetic quality.In order to give it a fair hearing I should really buy it and listen to it more closely. However, I feel disinclined to do that because of the above first impression.Strange how so many are critical of Ten New Songs, I love it. In My Secret Life, Boogie Street, A Thousand Kisses Deep, all masterpieces.

Please do give the album another try, and this time, immerse yourself in it (Leonard's music is not particularly good as "background" music, anyway, in that it needs to be listened to). I wasn't sure if I liked Dear Heather (the album) the first time, either, but I now really love it, it is so varied and unique. I do, however, agree with you that on a few of the tracks, I would have preferred Leonard's vocals to be front and centre, rather than distinctly in the background. I don't mind Anjani's voice, but I bought the album to hear Leonard's voice, and a couple of the songs in particular (especially Undertow and Nightingale, which are delightful songs) would be, I think, superior with Leonard in the lead.

I also agree that Ten New Songs is an awesome album, really quite sublime. It's a great chill-out album, with the mellow beats and Leonard's deep velvet voice caressing my ears. Love it!